World

29th November 2006

12:00 AM — While plans to hold the 2009 Outgames are underway, the news is in about the most recent event in Montreal, and financially, it doesn't look good.There has always been a comparison between the World Outgames event and the Gay Games, and this year the Outgames did outdo the Gay Games in at least one way, by ending with the highest deficit for a multi-sport LGBT event in history.

12:00 AM — The Pope will be preaching a message of tolerance, respect and peace as he travels around Turkey this week, but he may even find his own values tested when he meets his interpreter, an Italian gay icon.According to reports, actress Serra Yilmaz, has been drafted in to help the pontiff build bridges with Turkey's Muslim community.Yilmaz has appeared in gay-interest films such as His Secret Life and Harem Suare

12:00 AM — Canada will revisit its laws on same sex marriage next week.A debate on same sex marriage will start on Monday in the country's Parliament after a manifesto pledge from Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper that a debate on banning gay marriage in Canada would be held.Mr Harper announced in his manifesto that there would be a free vote on the issue.

28th November 2006

12:00 AM — Minneapolis Mayor R T Rybak has called for the removal of lesbian Fire Chief Bonnie Bleskachek, saying he no longer has confidence in her ability to lead the Fire Department.The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that Rybak's announcement comes on the eve of a meeting by the city's executive council to discuss the fire chief's possible firing.

12:00 AM — The fight for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality is a crucial civil rights struggle that all Americans should support, two legendary civil rights heroes have announced.Dolores Huerta and Julian Bond made the statement in interviews in the latest issue of the Human Rights Campaign magazine, Equality.

12:00 AM — A gay media monitor has applauded the announcement that ABC's soap All My Children will introduce a transgender character at the end of the month.This is the first time a daytime drama — or any series on broadcast television — will chronicle a transgender coming out story.

12:00 AM — A gay rights group and a gay medical organisation have teamed up for a landmark project.The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) announced a first-of-its-kind relationship this week to rate the healthcare industry on how it treats its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender patients and to educate the community about what to expect from medical providers and facilities.

12:00 AM — The European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights has vowed to seek an amendment to a statement from the European Parliament Bureau on diversity after it was revealed that sexual orientation was removed from the document.The decision has been criticised by LGBT activists working at the European level as a dangerous precedent in the light of efforts to stop the creation of a so-called hierarchy of discriminations within the European Union.

12:00 AM — A group of renowned constitutional scholars has filed a brief asking the First Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a District Court ruling and allow a lawsuit to move forward in an appeal by twelve military veterans battling the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law prohibiting military service by lesbian, gay and bisexual recruits.The nine recognised experts filed the amicus brief, in support of the service members in Cook v Rumsfeld, last week.

12:00 AM — A gay escort who outed a senior church leader is now being sought by police on drugs charges.Reverend Ted Haggard, was dismissed as Senior Pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado and resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals earlier this month amid claims that he had meetings with a gay rent boy.

12:00 AM — A male prostitute turned gay priest has entered the Canadian Parliament after a shock by-election victory.Raymond Gravel, who was once criticised by the Pope for his pro-gay views, won the election in Repentigny, representing the Bloc Quebecois Party, which campaigns for sovereignty of the Quebec province.

12:00 AM — Swedish home furnishing retailer Ikea made worldwide news in 1994 for its US commercial featuring a male couple buying furniture together, the company has returned to its roots with a new spot including another gay pair, this time with a child.Following a rainbow of families, the black and Asian male couple are joined by their Golden Retriever and daughter, snuggled in domestic bliss. An ending voiceover asks: "Why shouldn't sofas come in flavours, just like families?"

27th November 2006

12:00 AM — A gay motoring website has updated its listing of gay-friendly car companies to include two brands previously on its non-gay-friendly list - Nissan and Infiniti.Both brands are sold in the US by Nissan North America (NNA) who recently announced they would be offering domestic partner benefits to all of their US employees.

12:00 AM — Gay rights advocates in the Australian island state of Tasmania have written to Denmark's Crown Princess Mary asking her to point out the benefits to her childhood home that have come from its greater acceptance of gay and lesbian people.The letter is a direct response to recent media reports of anti-gay harassment and the absence of anti-discrimination laws in the Danish-administered Faeroe Islands, and coincides with the Princess's latest Tasmanian visit.

12:00 AM — Support for same sex unions in the Republic of Ireland is growing, a new report shows.The survey revealed that 51 per cent of the population backed civil unions for gays and lesbians while 33 per cent believe that same-sex couples should have access to full civil partnerships.

12:00 AM — A Hong Kong actress picked up an award for a lesbian film at the Chinese Oscars last weekend in Taiwan.Nikki Shie won the best supporting actress prize at the 43rd Golden Horse Awards for the film "Reflections," which documents a lesbian relationship that goes wrong.The ceremony applauds Chinese language movies and gives recognition to Asian actors, actresses, directors, composers and writers.

12:00 AM — An American soap is set to introduce what is thought to be the serial drama world's first transgender character.The character will appear on ABC's All My Children, in a storyline about a gender transition from a man to a woman.There have been other post-op transgender characters in US soaps but this storyline is believed to be the first time the start of the process will be followed.

24th November 2006

12:00 AM — A gay activist is demanding an apology from a US Diocese after a congregation's lease was terminated over disagreement of a talk he was due to give at the venue.The Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, leased space for three years to the Unitarian Unversalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore, but the congregation has been forced out of their leased space without warning for arraigning gay activist Marc Adams to speak at a Sunday service.

12:00 AM — A Brazilian judge has allowed a gay couple in Sao Paolo to jointly adopt a five year old girl in a landmark case.One of the men had already adopted the girl but today's ruling makes it the first time a male couple has been allowed to jointly adopt.It ends a year long legal battle for the couple, Vasco Pedro da Gama and Junior de Carvalho who have been together for 14 years.

23rd November 2006

12:00 AM — A lesbian couple from Rhode Island have started a legal debate in their home state after seeking a divorce from a same sex marriage obtained in Massachusetts.Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston took advantage of the opening up of marriage to gay couples in Massachusetts in 2004, but now that they want to separate, it creates a confusing issue for Rhode Island where there is no law recognising gay marriage.

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